Department for Transport

Railways: Strikes

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to combat further railway strikes across England.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: The Government regrets that the trade unions have chosen to go ahead with the strikes which are impacting local businesses and the ability of the general public to get to school, hospital and work. Ministers encourage the unions to keep negotiating with the railway companies as the employers, to resolve this dispute. The Secretary of State outlined this clearly in his letter dated 16 June 2022 to the RMT General Secretary.The Government and rail industry, including Network Rail, have worked together and continue to work together to ensure plans are in place to minimise disruption allowing for freight and passenger services to remain operational where possible. We are working with the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, the Government’s emergency planning team, to improve readiness across Government, including mitigations for impact on critical supply chains.The Government is taking immediate steps to support train services. A Statutory Instrument was laid on 27 June 2022, under the terms of which employment businesses will be able supply workers to replace striking workers. This will also allow trained staff with transferrable skills to move around the industry to cover for striking staff to keep the railways running. We are also looking to speed up the introduction of minimum service level legislation to ensure that when strikes take place, they are mindful of the rights of others, affected by their strikes. This would mean a certain level of train service would need to be provided.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Arts and Education

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to restore (1) education programmes, and (2) access to (a) training, and (b) the arts, for prisoners, where those have been restricted by (i) COVID-19, and (ii) staff shortages.

Lord Bellamy: Staff recruitment was suspended from March 2020 until August 2020 whilst we implemented Covid-19 secure practices in response to Government guidelines on social distancing and non-essential travel. While this created a gap in our pipeline of new officers, once the process restarted, we used initiatives such as the accelerated launch of 60+ recruitment campaigns and the use of targeted overtime and mutual aid across prisons, to ensure establishments facing the greatest challenges received the most support. Although face-to-face teaching was temporarily suspended due to safety concerns at the start of the pandemic, education continued via remote learning. With the pandemic National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services having been lifted on 9 May 2022, we are now getting increasing numbers of learners back in the classroom and participating in activities, like the arts, that support rehabilitation where it is safe to do so. As set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper, published on 7 December 2021, we are committed to improving education in prisons and we are delivering a Prisoner Education Service within this Parliament to raise prisoners’ levels of numeracy, literacy, skills and qualifications with the aim of helping them secure jobs upon release and drive down reoffending. This work includes investment in digital infrastructure, more training that delivers the skills employers need, more education experts to support Governors and improved support for prisoners with additional learning needs.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce (1) a Community Sentence Treatment Requirement for gambling addiction, or (2) a Gambling Treatment Requirement, similar to community sentence treatments for offences where alcohol, drugs or mental health issues were an underlying factor.

Lord Bellamy: Offenders with a gambling addiction may be suitable for a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) as part of a community or suspended sentence order where mental health has been identified as an underlying factor.The MHTR clinical practitioner assessment would identify an individual’s vulnerability (for example gambling addiction) and this would determine the psychological interventions suitable for them. Due to the complexity of gambling addiction, different approaches are used to enhance therapeutic effectiveness.HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to increasing awareness of the hidden harms of addiction to gambling and helping to support those with a problem, at all stages of the criminal justice system. To this end, a needs analysis is planned so that we can better understand the size of the issue. The results will inform the development of an HMPPS national gambling strategy, designed to raise awareness of problem gambling and ensure that our probation officers have the confidence to help identify and signpost individuals into the most appropriate care.I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to HL980 for a more detailed account of the work in hand to raise awareness and knowledge of problem gambling with prison staff, probation and the police.

Gambling: Crime

Lord Foster of Bath: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatsteps they have taken to (1) increase awareness, and (2) introduce training, for (a) police, (b) probation, and (c) prison, staff on the issues faced by individuals who commit crime due to gambling-related harms.

Lord Bellamy: HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is committed to increasing awareness of the hidden harms of problem gambling and training our prison and probation officers. This equips them with the skills and confidence to help identify, support and signpost individuals into the most appropriate interventions both in custody and on release.The activities and training services available to improve staff awareness regarding gambling related harms are detailed below.Within the Probation Service, practitioners have access to an evidence based effective practice resource which was published in 2021. This provides a summary of key evidence, including the harms caused by gambling, signs that gambling is causing a problem, ideas on how to work with individuals who gamble and reflective questions to support practice discussions.To increase awareness, the launch of this guidance was supported by an online event in November 2021 to understand more about the prevalence and effects of gambling in criminal justice and look at how prison and probation services can respond. The recording of the event remains available for staff to access. The event involved speakers from the Prisoner Education tTrust, the Howard League for Penal Reform, Epic Restart Foundation and Gam Care along with colleagues from within HMPPS.Further work is currently underway to create a package of materials for probation staff to use with this specific cohort. This is expected to be available from October 2022. I refer the noble Lord to the answer given to HL1110 for further information.HMPPS has an online learning platform which hosts a variety of training that all prison and probation staff can access. On this platform there is a package called ‘Problem Gambling: Prevalence and Practice’ where the aim is for the learner to gain an understanding about the occurrence and effects of gambling in the criminal justice system.The police also offer a six-hour training course "on understanding and spotting early signs of gambling addictions", which was launched in September 2021 and is available to all police officers.

Prisoners: Females

The Lord Bishop of Gloucester: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many women aged (1) 18 to 25, and (2) 26 and above, went to prison in each of the last 10 years; what was the average length of sentence for each of those categories; and what were the 10 most common offences that led to the imprisonment of women during this period.

Lord Bellamy: The information requested is in the attached table. The Female Offender Strategy, published in June 2018, made it clear we want fewer women serving short sentences in custody and more managed in the community. Custody is intended as a last resort, for the protection of the public and the punishment and rehabilitation of the offender.HL717_table (xlsx, 20.7KB)

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Afghanistan: Females

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are currently funding women's groups inside Afghanistan.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK announced £286m of aid for Afghanistan this financial year. As the Foreign Secretary committed, at least 50% of those we reach with our aid should be women and girls.We will support women's rights organisations as part of our Afghanistan Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) programme. We are exploring further ways to support women's organisations through our humanitarian programming, and strongly support the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund's work in identifying ways to support NGOs in Afghanistan at scale. We will also continue to work with partners to ensure women continue to play an active role within humanitarian organisations funded by the FCDO.

Libya: Politics and Government

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent developments in Libya; and what assessment they have made of the implications of these developments on the formation of a government in that country.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Recent developments in Libya demonstrate the need for successful, free, fair and inclusive elections, to meet the aspirations of the Libyan people to have a say in who governs them. The UK fully supports the UN-facilitated, Libyan led and owned political process and is working with Libyan and international partners - including the UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor on Libya, Stephanie Williams, and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya - to pursue this priority to support Libya's sovereignty and national unity and to put the country on a path towards sustained peace, security and prosperity.

Bahrain: Torture

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations the Prime Minister made, if any, to Bahrain’s Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al’Khalida at their meeting on 27 May concerning the Sheikh’s reported implication in the torture of political dissidents in Bahrain.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government unreservedly condemns the use of torture. The UK does not participate in, solicit, encourage or condone the use of torture for any purpose. We take allegations or concerns of torture and mistreatment very seriously and will follow up with action, as appropriate.We urge all allegations of torture or mistreatment to be reported to the appropriate national oversight body whose duty it is to carry out full and independent investigations. We continue to encourage the oversight bodies to carry out swift and thorough investigations into any such claims.

Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government, what representations have they made to the government of Saudi Arabia regarding Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Saudi Arabia on charges relating to his social media activity; and what urgent representations they plan to make, if any, to the government of Saudi Arabia about concerns that he has been incommunicado since October 2021.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We continue to monitor the case of Mr Abdulrahman al-Sadhan. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights in our engagement with the Saudi authorities. Minister Milling raised concern regarding the death penalty with the Saudi Ambassador on 23 May, and enquired into a specific high-priority case. Lord Ahmad also raised UK concerns about the death penalty with the Saudi Justice Minister on 6 June. We have consistently raised concerns about the use of solitary confinement, lack of family contact and allegations of torture in Saudi Arabia, and stressed the importance of due process.

Ukraine: Armed Conflict

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatsteps they will take, working with international allies, to provide Ukraine with security assurances against further attacks by Russia, after the conclusion of the war in Ukraine.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: In a statement on 8 May, the Prime Minister, along with other G7 leaders, confirmed our readiness to undertake further commitments to help Ukraine secure its free and democratic future, such that Ukraine can defend itself now and deter future acts of aggression. We will pursue our ongoing military and defence assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including through training and material, continue supporting Ukraine in defending its networks against cyber incidents, and expand our cooperation, including on information security. We will also continue to support Ukraine in improving its economic and energy security. We remain in close contact with President Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian leaders on these issues, including during the Prime Minister's recent visit to Kyiv.

Ukraine: Cereals

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the effects of the Russian blockade of exports of grain from Ukraine; in particular, the impact on food supply and food security in developing countries; and what plans they have to use the Official Development Assistance budget, and the resources of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to mitigate these effects.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The threat to global food security from Russia's blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports is huge. Putin's illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is exacerbating price rises in commodity markets. 49 million people are already living a step away from famine and almost 860,000 people are estimated to be in famine-like conditions.Over the next 3 years, we will direct £3 billion to the most vulnerable countries and people to help them recover from crises. We welcome the World Bank's announcement of $30 billion to address food insecurity globally over the next 15 months, which responds to the UK's calls for the Bank to mobilise funding to tackle the growing crisis. The UK has also committed another £10 million to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to build resilience in agriculture and food security in the poorest countries, bringing our total contribution to £186 million.

Football

Lord Pendry: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in light of the treatment of Liverpool supporters attending the Champions League Final, what steps they have taken, in partnership with the relevant footballing bodies, to ensure that British football supporters can safely attend the Qatar World Cup; and what steps they have taken to ensure justice for those fans who were mistreated at the Champions League Final.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We welcome the fact that UEFA have commissioned an independent investigation into the Champions League final, and issued an apology to fans who attended; and that the French Government has commissioned a review of the delivery of the event and will also be supporting the UEFA investigation. The UK and French Sports Ministers met earlier this month and we will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities and Liverpool FC.Regarding the upcoming World Cup, we are working with Qatar to support their delivery of a safe and secure tournament for all British Nationals who will be attending. We continue to engage closely with Qatari authorities on their security preparations, and UK police will be offering support and advice on engaging with fans attending from the UK. We are also encouraging fans to read the FCDO's Qatar World Cup Travel Advice, and sign up for email alerts to stay up to date on the latest information.

Ukraine: Armed Conflict

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made of the confiscation by Russian of millions of tons of produce, including corn, grain, fertilizers, and sunflower oil, from Ukraine; and what steps they will take with international partners to assess whether this constitutes a crime of theft or robbery.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Ukraine's economy and ability to export its produce has been crippled by Russia's continued bombardment of cities and infrastructure across Ukraine, including through bombing agricultural lands, grain silos and Putin's reckless blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports. We are aware of reports of Russia stealing grain from Ukraine and have called for an immediate investigation. We are continuing to call out Russia's false narrative on grain in international fora including the G7 and the Food and Agriculture Organization, emphasising that Russia's actions are exacerbating the global food crisis, putting tens of millions of people at risk of famine.

Ministry of Defence

Ukraine: Military Aid

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatsteps they are taking to provide more weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces, including (1) any necessary missiles, and (2) sufficient munitions for self-defence.

Baroness Goldie: The UK has already committed £1.3 billion for military operations and lethal aid that has assisted Ukraine in defending itself and its sovereignty. We liaise on a daily basis with Ukraine to ensure we can continue to provide the defensive equipment it needs. We have recently announced that we will be providing multiple launch rocket systems which will provide Ukraine with a significant boost in capability.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Overpayments

Baroness Tyler of Enfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government how manyhouseholds had deductions from legacy benefits to repaydebt due to previous overpaymentfor the most recent month available; and what was the average amount that was deducted for those households.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: During May 2022, 170,000 individual claimants had deductions taken from their legacy benefits in order to repay overpaid benefits. The average deduction taken in that month was £61. DWP has a duty to protect public funds and an obligation to ensure that overpaid benefit payments are recovered in accordance with the appropriate social security legislation. However, we seek to discharge that duty without causing undue financial hardship. We therefore have an established route by which anyone experiencing difficulties with repayments is encouraged to contact DWP Debt Management in order to negotiate a possible reduction in their rate of repayment, or a temporary suspension of repayment, depending on financial circumstances. In exceptional circumstances there is also discretion to waive recovery of an overpayment, but only were there are compelling grounds to show that recovery of the overpayment is detrimental to the health and/or welfare of the debtor or their family.

Agriculture: Accidents

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government howmany (1) deaths, and (2) serious injuries, (a) on farms, and (b) in agriculture generally, have been reported to the Health and Safety Executive in each of the last 10 years.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publishes official statistics on deaths and injuries at work. Data specifically for agriculture and farms is reproduced in the tables below.  Table 1: Number of fatal injuries to both workers (employees and the self-employed) and members of the public (a) on farms and (b) in the agricultural sector, 2011/12-2020/21.Source: Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)  Farms (a) Agriculture Sector (b)YearWorkersMembers of the public WorkersMembers of the public2011/12276 3562012/13295 3152013/14264 2742014/15303 3242015/16262 2722016/17253 2632017/18273 2942018/19316 3272019/20r181 2122020/21p327 347   Table 2: Number of reported (f) non-fatal injuries to employees (a) on farms and (b) in the agricultural sector each year 2011/12-2020/21.Source: Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)   YearFarms (a)Agriculture sector (b)2011/12 (c)8811,1102012/13 (d)6818612013/14 (e)6888612014/157859362015/167338902016/176978692017/186648142018/197148492019/20r7038452020/21p626738 Footnotes  (a) Farms defined as Division 01, Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities, of the 2007 Standard Industrial Classification.(b) Agriculture defined as Section A, Agriculture, forestry and fishing, of the 2007 Standard Industrial Classification.(c) Due to a major change in the RIDDOR non-fatal injury reporting requirements in April 2012, injuries reported prior to 2012/13 are not directly comparable with later years.(d) RIDDOR reporting requirements for non-fatal injuries changed on 1 April 2012. From this date, non-fatal injuries resulting in more than 7 days absence from work (previously more than 3 days absence) or specified on a pre-defined list of major injuries were reportable.(e) A further change in reporting requirements was introduced in October 2013 when the pre-defined list of reportable non-fatal injuries was updated.(f) While RIDDOR requires employers to report certain workplace non-fatal injuries to workers, generally the more serious, it is known that employers substantially under-report these non-fatal injuries, particularly in relation to self-employed workers. Hence Table 2 presents number of reports for employees only.r- revised; p- provisional

Universal Credit

Baroness Tyler of Enfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government how manyhouseholds had deductions to their Universal Credit award to repay debt due to previous overpayment, including advances, for the most recent month available; and what was the average amount that was deducted.

Baroness Tyler of Enfield: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Universal Credit claimants in each parliamentary constituency had sums deducted from their claim to repay debt due to previous overpayment, including advances, in the most recent month for which data is available; and what were the (1) average, and (2) total, sums deducted in each constituency.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: The Government recognises the importance of supporting the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. We seek to balance recovery of debt against not causing hardship for claimants and their families. Processes are in place to ensure deductions are manageable, and customers can contact DWP Debt Management if they are experiencing financial hardship, to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment or a temporary suspension, depending on their financial circumstances. Since April 2021, we have reduced the normal maximum rate of deductions in Universal Credit from 40% to 30 % to 25% of a claimant’s Standard Allowance. These positive measures were put in place to support claimants to manage financial difficulties. Advances are a claimant’s benefit entitlement paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront. They ensure nobody has to wait for a payment in Universal Credit and those who need it are able to receive financial support as soon as possible. Claimants can receive up to 100% of their estimated Universal Credit award if required, resulting in 25 payments over a 24-month period. This is not a debt. The information requested is provided in the attached spreadsheet. Table (xlsx, 56.4KB)

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Housing: Older People

Baroness Altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the formation of the cross-departmental taskforce on older people’s housing, as outlined in the Levelling Up the United Kingdom white paper, published on 2 February.

Lord Greenhalgh: This Government is committed to further improving the diversity of housing options available to older people and boosting the supply of specialist elderly accommodation.The Older People's Housing taskforce will look at ways we can provide greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people, and support the growth of a thriving older people's housing sector in this country. This work will be taken forward in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care. Further details about the taskforce including panel membership and scope will be confirmed in due course.

Cabinet Office

Ministers: Peers

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty's Government to list the peers who have been appointed to the House since 2010 to serve as ministers; and, in each case, how long the peer remained in ministerial office.

Lord True: Life peers are appointed by Her Majesty the Queen to serve in the House of Lords for life, or until they retire from the House. Such peers may continue to provide public service long after they have ceased to be a Minister of the Crown – as the Noble Lord will, I am sure, attest himself. The Government does not hold this information centrally. Notwithstanding, to assist the Noble Lord’s scrutiny, the attached list of ministers who were appointed to the House of Lords within a month of appointment to Government has been compiled from information in the public domain. For completeness, we have provided information from 1997 to now.  Lords List (pdf, 48.4KB)

Department for International Trade

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what meetings they have had with ambassadors at the World Trade Organisation with (1) the African group, and (2) the Least-developed countries group, about negotiations on the COVID-19 text produced by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Council.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: The UK has continuously engaged with the African Group and the Least Developed Countries Group, represented by Tanzania and Bangladesh respectively, throughout the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) debate. A consensus-based agreement on a TRIPS Decision was reached at the World Trade Organisation’s 12th Ministerial Conference, which both groups are eligible to use.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Football: Safety

Lord Pendry: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the findings of the interim report by CFE research on behalf of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, when they expect to publish the Safe Standing Trial.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Following the conclusion of the Early Adopter Programme for Licensed Standing in Seated Areas, Her Majesty’s Government has been provided with the Final Evaluation Report by CFE Research. We will continue to work closely with the Sports Grounds Safety Authority to review the findings of this report and expect to publish it in due course.